Mike Moran: Sen. Rodrigues' candor about Beacon Hill was refreshing

Wednesday

May 7, 2014 at 5:36 PM

I was both amused and enlightened to learn what state Sen. Mike Rodrigues had to say last week during Law Day ceremonies at Bristol Community College. It was amusing because, for a politician, he was refreshingly candid in his remarks. And I found it enlightening that he provided us with a somewhat unvarnished look at what really happens on Beacon Hill.

Mike MoranColumnist

I was both amused and enlightened to learn what state Sen. Mike Rodrigues had to say last week during Law Day ceremonies at Bristol Community College. It was amusing because, for a politician, he was refreshingly candid in his remarks. And I found it enlightening that he provided us with a somewhat unvarnished look at what really happens on Beacon Hill.

Rodrigues could have chosen this opportunity to deliver a self-congratulatory political sermon about how he and his Boston colleagues are fighting for all of us, doing the work of the people and blah, blah, blah. But the Westport Democrat did something a little different.

It’s as though he pushed open the huge, creaky, cobweb-covered door of state government and let a few of us “outsiders” take a brief looksee. And what we found out, at least according to this particular senator, is that some folks in the Legislature are “bums,” that politicians use the contrived term “revenue” to soften the sting of raising taxes, and that democracy is “extremely inefficient.” As political speeches go, this one offered less rhetoric and more reality check.

OK, so maybe Rodrigues didn’t drop a major bombshell or send the Law Day crowd reaching for the smelling salts with his de-glamorization of life on Beacon Hill. But he took the road less traveled by politicians and vented a bit about some of the things politicians do that drive us crazy. Frankly, his talking points reminded me of the magician who violates his code of silence by showing us how the magic tricks are done.

I’m sure Rodrigues’ more pretentious colleagues in Boston would prefer that we regular folk see state government in a purely positive light. They want us to envision a wondrous world of clean and efficient lawmaking, with every representative and senator charging up Boston Common to the Statehouse to selflessly “work hard” for their constituents.

I guess if you’ve been in government for 18 years, like Rodrigues, you know how to peel away its shiny veneer and show what lies beneath. You learn how to play the game, where the bodies are buried, and just how sleazy some lobbyists can be. I imagine you also quickly learn which of your colleagues are well-motivated and which ones are sautéed in their own ego rather than filled with the spirit of self-sacrifice.

Rodrigues said in his Law Day speech that democracy is extremely inefficient. He’s right. At the Statehouse, votes are cast by elected leaders and the majority opinion prevails. That part is pretty simple. The difficult part is that our government is really a representative republic — one where leaders are elected to represent the people. And the people make that nearly impossible because of their widely differing opinions on issues of substance.

It’s no wonder that Rodrigues cites gay marriage, the death penalty and casino gaming as the three toughest votes he’s cast. Each of these issues has supporters and detractors who fight for their side with considerable force and self-assuredness.

Then there’s the complex blob of competing interests that influence the way in which these elected leaders vote in Boston. It’s often a strange mix of ideology, lobbying, peer pressure, voter input, lobbying, campaign donors — and did I mention lobbying?

So Rodrigues stood behind the podium and offered a little straight talk about what happens inside his workplace environment. And he was honest enough to say that the system is flawed, so is he, and so are his colleagues. I’ll take that any day over the self-serving pat on the back that politicians too often give themselves and each other.